Eden
Eden, also known as “Paradise”, is the biblical "garden of God". It is first mentioned by Tiago Marqués during his final last words. He believes it’s a real place, not a myth. It's where Jehovah created life, and where Lucifer gave Eve knowledge. Here, the Gods are held in balance. According to Gehnen’s map Map found inside the library in Castell dels Sants. Property of Gehnen who used it to discover the real location of the Tabula Veritatis., it is located in Mesopotamia, or Iraq as it is now. Not exactly a prime tourist spot in Asia. Broken Sword 5: The Serpent's Curse After deciphering the Tabula Veritatis’ marks thanks to Gehnen’s discoveries regarding an ancient clay tablet in Santa Cova Chapel, George Stobbart and Nicole Collard learn that the artifact is in fact a set of directions that lead to “the source of four rivers”. When Richard Langham gets his hands on the tabula and takes Eva Sanchez (Tiago’s daughter) with him to this unknown location in Mesopotamia, George and Nico try to talk to Marqués who is badly insured because of Langham’s fault. With his last strength, Tiago Marqués helps them understand that Langham is heading to Eden, “where a river flows from and divides into four”In Genesis there is a river. It flows from Paradise - and divides into four. Genesis 2:10 “9- Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10- Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers.” The Bible. . Thanks to Shears' help (well deserved), George and Nico are able to fly to Iraq in Medovsky’s luxurious jet. During the flight, George has a mysterious and strange dream that takes place in the Gnostic Chapel found in Castell dels Sants. Here – Marqués, Father Simeon and Wilfred Hobbs try to give him meaningful and helping advices on how to prevent Langham from destroying the world as we know it. Before waking up, Marqués tells George to “Maintain the harmony and protect the balance. Because he has the answer in his hands.” George doesn’t understand this last sentence, and after opening his eyes realizes that he is holding Marqués’ old medallion on his left hand. Nico tells George that he was dreaming and communicates him that they must be close to EdenThrough the speaker Shears inform the passengers the imminent arrival: "Ladies and Gentlemen. This is your captain speaking. I hope you've had a pleasant flight. The temperature in Eden is a pleasant 30 degrees centigrade. We shall be landing on a flat plain about two kilometers into the desert which you will find is a pleasant stroll to your destination. Fasten your seatbelt and all that gubbins. Finally, may I take this opportunity of thanking you personally for choosing to fly Air Shears. We do hope you'll fly again with us soon".. Once arrived in Eden, the excessive heat prevents Shears from even walk. He asks Nico to wait for him a moment, while George decides to explore the scenery. Soon George encounters a very a goat waiting peacefully next to a fig tree. By taking another look, George notices a truck with the logo of “Wolfram” which means Langham can't be far away. Before inspecting it closely, he decides it’s better to locate its owners first. Wolfram thugs are waiting outside a recently opened cave not far from themThe Gnostic figures seen here are depicted in the Father Simeon’s secret documents from the Vatican: An ancient scan of a manuscript with a covering note, both written in Latin. An illustration shows a group of colored figures engaged in some sort of ritual. The Tabula Veritatis only appears in one file: “The Inquisition into Heretical Depravity” by Nicholas Eymerich, AD 1376. The note was signed by the Vice Prefect of the Vatican Archives. Simeon must have done some digging after he recognized the symbol on Hobbs' sketch. The scan of the manuscript read "And thus spoke the accused. In this ritual we find succour. Clad in Blue, the Perfecti takes the form of the spiritual and look towards the rising sun, towards the Tree of Knowledge. Clad in Green, the Credentes (believers) look the other way, towards the setting sun where stands the Tree of Life. And all shall know that the Light of Knowledge is blue, and that the Light of Life is green. For thus was the Light of Eden both blue and green. Intertwined with the Light of Man to become pure. Pure light, white light. Pure light will win. So it was written in the old texts. Affirmed by the Tabula Veritatis. And these were the accused's last words.”. George asks Shears if he can do anything about the guards, unfortunately he has given up senseless violence thanks to Nico’s helpSince the events that took place inside the cable cars in Montserrat Cable Car Station, Nico has been helping Shears to become a better man in search for forgiveness. Clearly, her Philosophy class seems to be working.. Now George needs to find another way to distract the guards and get where Langham is. By searching the back of the truck, he finds a knapsack full of military items. According to Shears, they are some of the explosives used by Langham’s henchmen to blast the hole seen in the rock faceTwo large statues that represent the Assyrian deity called Shedu frame the cave’s entrance. The name refers to the male counterpart of a lamassu (female version). This creature has a winged bull’s body and a human head. Historically, they were often placed as a pair at the entrance of palaces. At the entrance of cities, they were sculpted in colossal size, and placed as a pair, one at each side of the door of the city, that generally had doors in the surrounding wall, each one looking towards one of the cardinal points. Lamassu. Inside the bag George finds: a block of explosive, two long tubes wrapped in paper which can certainly look like dynamite, a roll of duct tape, some fuse wire, a sausage (someone’s lunch), and a battered old lighterThe lighter has a monogram on the front that reads: "Put your own personal monogram here".. Despite Shears telling George otherwise, he isn't convinced that the sausage is edible. He knows it is a sausage, Shears knows it is a sausage. But one tiny length of fuse wire, and voilà. It can be passable for dynamite as long as nobody gives it a sniff. After some thought, George has the great idea to use one of his best known nemesis to his advantage. He plans to distract Langham’s men with Donna, the malicious goat with pure hatred in its black eyes. Thanks to Nico’s help, he is able to duct tape the fake dynamite to the animal’s neck. By luring the goat with some ripe and delicious figs, George guides Donna to where the guards are sitting not before lighting the wire of the artefact. The goat begins to walk towards the men casually eating one fig at a time. As soon as she is close enough, they start talking about the cuteness of the animal when suddenly realize the powerful explosive and its imminent detonation. This makes the guards get up instantly and run for their lives as fast as they can. Moments later – Shears, George and Nico can approximate to the cave where supposedly Langham is now that his men have abandoned their position. The cave is pitch black, too dark to see a thing. George tries to light up the place with the lighter he found on the knapsack and it’s stopped by Nico straightaway. She yells at him for trying to use fire while having a hand full of explosives on his pockets and tells George that she will be protecting those devices. Through the gloom George can just see stairs leading down, he and Nico proceed to go into the cave. While Shears waits patiently outside because he is scared of tight spaces. Already inside the cavern across a fallen bridge, Richard Langham can be spotted wearing a white robe with the Tabula Veritatis on one of his hands. Meanwhile, Eva is tied to the left column of what it looks like an ancient altar. In the middle of this, a glowing section which has the shape of the Tabula. On both sides, two gigantic statues frame the structure. On the left, Jehovah holding an orb in his hand. Behind him stands the Tree of Life. On the right, Lucifer holding another orb in his hand. Behind him stands the Tree of Knowledge. As ever Nico and George are knee deep in an ancient conspiracy. They need to find a way to cross to where Langham is about to execute his sinister plan. The old collapsed bridge before them that prevents them from getting near the altar seems to have fallen many years ago. This is why Langham has used a ladder to cross - but that ladder is now on the other side. A tangled mass of dry old vines hangs from the ceiling and the ladder has got caught up in them. Near George, a dried up and dead-looking bush is attached to a wall. By setting on fire the dead bush, very biblical indeed, he might have an interesting idea on how to get to the other side. George takes Henri’s awful perfume from his pocket and proceeds to spray it near the fire aiming for the dead vines that are holding the ladder on its place. Luckily, the large amount of flames reach the vines and free the ladder. George tries to talk with Langham and convince him not to summon Lucifer. But Langham is determined to wake up the gods upon his command. Lucifer shall smite Jehovah with his power, annihilate him. Langham has nothing left to say and throws George to what it looks like a bottomless foggy source of water. This leaves Nico on her own while George tries to float on the water to avoid sinking. Langham places the Tabula Veritatis on the altar and the powers start rising. Both of the orbs held by the enormous statues light up in green and blue. Flashes of light and immense power are focused now on Langham who, by now, is levitating over the foggy water almost near where George is. Nico screams for George, but she can’t do anything for him now. She tries to speak to Langham with no luck. Nico asks Eva for answers on what to do now, but Tiago’s daughter has nothing relevant to say apart from a phrase his father repeated when she was young: “Pure light, white light, will conquer". By taking a look to her surroundings, Nico spots a large crack that runs from one side of the altar. A sublime light radiates from it, that’s it. Nico remembers she is loaded with very potent explosives so tells Eva to run and goes ahead to plant the incendiary device into the crack. Both Eva and Nico run rapidly from there and hide behind a rock formation. The explosion expands the crack and lets white light into the cave, pure light. George, with Tiago’s old medallion in hand, tries to focus the light so that it reflects where Langham is levitating just like he did with the fresco in the Gnostic Chapel of Castell dels Sants. Pura lux victura est, pure light will win. Langham reprimands George for trying to stop him from destroying Jehovah and ask him to stop. Nevertheless, George is not going to let the world embrace Lucifer because that would only mean the humanity’s destruction. He keeps holding Marqués’ medallion until the light consumes Langham’s body til its disintegration. The immense power that is created during this action makes the whole cavern tremble and fragments of rock start to fall as the floor shakes at the same time. George, Nico and Eva must leave quickly the cave before everything gets destroyed with them inside. Nico remembers to take the Tabula with them moments prior the collapse of the ancient sanctuary. Safe and sound, the three of them take a deep breath after being ejected out of the cavern by the blast of the explosion. Shears greets them effusively as he holds a meat brochette. As George and Nico discuss Eva’s future now that Langham has been defeated, she communicates them that it is her decision to take care of the Tabula Veritatis just how his father would have done if he was alive. Eva has a Castell and a Gnostic Chapel to restore, and a new life to build as a Gnostic leader. After Eva is out of sight, George and Nico have his first time to talk after the recent life-changing events. He admits to Nico he wasn’t sure they were going to make it this time. Clearly the Gods are on their side. As George approaches Nico to confess his true love with a meaningful kiss, they are abruptly interrupted by Shears who is calling them to have a bite of what he’s prepared: “Doner kebabs with a spicy fig compote”. He wasn’t only guarding the cave’s entrance but also cooking some delicious supper for everybody. Nico doubts for a few seconds and she's very scared to ask if the name “Doner” comes from her new best friend Donna, the goat. Unfortunately, it is. The scene ends with George being sarcastic about Nico's love for lovely goats. Once again, George and Nico come off victorious in this new adventure. Who knows what other stories might cross their path. Trivia *Traditionally, the favoured derivation of the name "Eden" was from the Akkadian edinnu, derived from a Sumerian word meaning "plain" or "steppe". Eden is now believed to be more closely related to an Aramaic root word meaning "fruitful, well-watered." The Hebrew term is translated "pleasure" in Sarah's secret saying in Genesis 18:12. *The whole place is amazing. A huge natural stone arch can be seen on the background. A giant stone head lay casually on the ground. A narrow path winds down a rocky slope. The narrow path opens out into a clearing where Langham’s men are waiting for his soon return. Gallery Eden 3.png|George meets Donna, the evil goat from Eden Eden 5.png|Knapsack found in Wolfram's trunk Eden 7.png|The powers from the Gods are rising Eden 8.png|Nico about to light things up Eden 9b.png|George destroying Langham once and for all. Eden 10.png|George, Nico and Eva escape from the cavern Eden 2.png|Our heros Category:Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse Category:Eden Category:Iraq, Asia Category:Location Category:Places of interest